I heard that the run on Carnival was that the crewmember was not allowed in the passenger's cabin but the passenger can get a pass and go down to the crewmember's quarters. Is this not true?

I also heard that there were parties down in the crew quarters and a passenger could get a pass to attend one of these parties. Is there any truth to that?

I remember on my first cruise in 1999, there was this stupid woman (at least 45) who told me in the elevator that her "boyfriend" was the singer in the reggae band on the Lido deck. She said that this was their 12 month anniversary and that she had been on this particular ship 11 times since they started "going together". (She had met him on cruise no. 1) I just looked at her. She sounded like a fool to believe that her 4 day cruises to the Bahamas were romantic encounters with her "boyfriend."

I for one would not go looking on the ship for a meaningful lasting relationship. Now a one night (one cruze) stand. . . hmmmm. that has possibilities. 8)

I was in shock to read what you wrote, I dated the lead singer from the reggae band for over a year and he used to be on Fantasy when you were there. However I was smart enough to finally break it off because this is what I expected. I went on five cruises last year so I could be with him, I also drove to port once a week, so we could spend a whopping three hours together. I finally started to catch him in lies, I honestly believe he forgot who he told what story to.
So BEWARE out there those reggae guys are there for the ride!

I was in shock to read what you wrote, I dated the lead singer from the reggae band for over a year and he used to be on Fantasy when you were there. However I was smart enough to finally break it off because this is what I expected. I went on five cruises last year so I could be with him, I also drove to port once a week, so we could spend a whopping three hours together. I finally started to catch him in lies, I honestly believe he forgot who he told what story to.
So BEWARE out there those reggae guys are there for the ride!

I had to re-read your post!! I was afraid you may have been the woman I was speaking of so unkindly. I now that I read your post, your experience with the Reggae Man was last year. Could have been the same guy for all we know. Like I said in my post, the cruise is a short adventure and any encounters made on the ship should be treated as such, especially if it is with a crew member.

On another board someone posted a long magazine article about life onboard for the crew, including passengers interacting with the crew in a sexual/romantic manner. It was a real eye opening in that the article made several points that are not always apparent. One of which is that many of the crew are international and therefore, they may read signals from the opposite sex totally different from what is intented. The article also went down the line starting with the captain and officers and their onboard antics, right down to the people we don't see, like the engine room workers. It was very interesting read.

There is a subculture on these cruiseships that, while not dangerous, require passengers to know what they may be getting into when they allow the line between the worker and passenger to become blurry.

Paul B was talking about ships like Pacific Sun and Pacific Star which operate out of Sydney and Brisbane on 7-10 day cruises to Papeete etc.

Brimble died on Pacific Sky which is gone. The press here are hot on cruise ship issues, security etc. True the P&O ships here are party ships alright, been on one this year. Out of control at times but security has improved, it needed to be. God knows what will happen when Regal Princess changes colours to Pacific Dawn in November, BIG party ship then.

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Cheers..Les the boy from OZ !

Princess Elite Cruiser
195 cruise days with Sitmar, P&O and Princess
All over the world !

I was in shock to read what you wrote, I dated the lead singer from the reggae band for over a year and he used to be on Fantasy when you were there. However I was smart enough to finally break it off because this is what I expected. I went on five cruises last year so I could be with him, I also drove to port once a week, so we could spend a whopping three hours together. I finally started to catch him in lies, I honestly believe he forgot who he told what story to.
So BEWARE out there those reggae guys are there for the ride!

I’m familiar with the band Innocence (I saw on another post that your lead singer is a member of Innocence). My heart really goes out to anyone who got involved with the him. That one really gets around. Actually the last time I saw them the lead singer was no longer there. Only the keyboard player, the base player and the drummer was there throughout the cruise. Could his shenanigans have possibly caught up with him? The keyboard player is a total flirt. I’ve seen them several times and each time that guy flirted with me. Mind you, he also flirted with a friend of my daughter (apparently age doesn’t matter to him). He didn’t make any major moves, just a little innocent flirting. The base player seems a little more subdued. He didn’t say much but he seems like a pretty nice guy. I never talked with the drummer so I don’t have any comments to share about him. I seem to run into these guys frequently but I have no idea which ship they’re on now as I believe they left the Fascination in March (at least I believe that's what one of them said).

Why would you want to hook up with crew? Go for an officer, they can entertain you and get you a deal for travel, without the "getting fired' problem. A friend of mine has a captain in her pocket- he gets us deals to travel[ like free] and he visits in the states. We are treated like queens when we go and there is no issue. I am friends with the hotel manager and it makes it nice. By the way we are not young chickies- but 40 ish women. This has been going on for 5 years now.

I travelled frequently on the QM2 transatlantic and have witnessed this laods of time - at all levels. So I was annoyed at myself for falling for the same old lines too. But I thought as mine was with a high ranking officer it would be kosher.... dream on, they use you, give you the same old lines and then abandon ship, they certainly should bve avoided like the plague. Especially Chief Security Officers...

I travelled frequently on the QM2 transatlantic and have witnessed this laods of time - at all levels. So I was annoyed at myself for falling for the same old lines too. But I thought as mine was with a high ranking officer it would be kosher.... dream on, they use you, give you the same old lines and then abandon ship, they certainly should bve avoided like the plague. Especially Chief Security Officers...

The ship life(crew) can never be understood unless you're a part of it. We live in a "bubble" world which is completely different from the normal world. I spent the three best years of my life on cruise ships and I was also fortunate enough to meet my soul mate, my wife

She was of course a fellow crew member, I would never dare to mess with "the cargo"

The ship life(crew) can never be understood unless you're a part of it. We live in a "bubble" world which is completely different from the normal world. I spent the three best years of my life on cruise ships and I was also fortunate enough to meet my soul mate, my wife

She was of course a fellow crew member, I would never dare to mess with "the cargo"

you got it down to a tee....
even after 4 years on ship.. people always ask me,..
what is it like...and no matter how real u try to make it, and describe to people. they will never underdtand it!
i had a ball on the ship.
My boyfriend was a 2nd engine officer... but after we left the ship, things didnt work out.
guess we were just different people onboard, and then in the normal world we just didnt work... shame.
i'd never go back to the ships.. it was an experience... but the life just got to much...to demanding, 7 dayd a week work for 8 solid months!!!! mental!! its illegal in the normal world!!! lol but still i met the most amazing people and some of my best friends in the world.... x

Do crewmembers make friends on other ships and in other lines? With so many ships in the same port, I would think that when the crewmembers have time off, they might meet other ship's crewmembers while on land.

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April 1, 2006 - Serenade of the Seas - 7 days to the Southern Caribbean

Funny!! I had to read this message because I'm a "Regular" person and I recently went on a cruise to mexico aboard a Carnival ship. I had THE BEST time EVER even though I went with my mother, aunt, and uncle. I'm 27 years old by the way. 8)
Anyway, I met the lead singer of the band there who put it in simple english for me since I was totally falling for an officer I had spent 3 nights with... "People that work on a ship are totally different than Regular people. They can, if they want, be a different person every week. If the person you "connect" with contacts you on the outside, then fine.. but when you're on the ship.. you're just the pick of the week.
Luckily for me, I've been in contact with my "friend". And it's true what they say about the officers, they don't have the same rules as the rest of the crew and they can have "visitors" without suffering much consequences.

A few decades ago, crew - especially officers - sleeping with passengers was the nightly sport.
Then the lawsuits started.
The cruise lines paid out millions to settle out of court.
Then we started sacking any crewmember who got caught with a passenger. The practice rapidly diminished.

The real solution was with the passengers.
Most of our female passengers today are so large, they have their own built-in protection.
Most have no worries to be approached in an inappropriate way by crew.